Tire-clamp for vehicle-wheels.



F. M.,'J. s. & w. w. HILTON TI RE CLAMP FOR VEHICLE WHEELS.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 2, 1910.

\ I I I anaemic w Patented Dec. 12, 1911.

LUE/ memes UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK M. HILTON, JOHN S. HILTON, AND'WILLIAM W. HILTON, F AKRON, OHIO.

TIRE-CLAMP FOR VEHICLE-WHEELS.-

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Dec, 12, 1911.

Application filed March 2, 1910. Serial No. 546,907.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, FRANK M. HILTON, JOHN S. HILTON, and \VILLIAM' \V.HILTON, citizens of the United States, residing at Akron, in the countyof Summit and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and use- Theobject of our invention is to provide a very simple construct-ion ofthis character,

in which the rim is formed with a sliding annular section which isadapted to engage the outer or clencher rim of the tire and which isheld in place by a locking. member which 'not only locks the slidingring or flange in place, but also acts to strengthen the rim of thewheel and prevent its being dented or deformed, this locking memberhaving the form of a ring, U-shaped in cross section, very light inconstruction and not only acting to hold the sliding ring flange inplace, but actingto strengthen the rim of the wheel itsel a Afurther'object' attained by the use of a U-shaped locking ring is thatit permits the rim to be made with a deeperchannel or groove at'themargin thereof, in which the locking ring fits, thuspreventing anychance of detachment of the locking ring as would take place were thechannel or groove relatively shallow, and further permitting the easierdetachment of the locking ring from its engagement with the channel.

Further objects of the invention will be pointed out in the course ofthe following description. r For a full understanding of the inventionand the merits thereof, and to acquire a knowledge of the details ofconstruction, reference is to be had to the following description andaccompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a wheel constructed in accordance withour invention; Fig. 2 is an enlarged transverse section through the rimand tire of such a .wheel; Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the lookingring; Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the tire-clamping ring; Fig. 5 isan enlarged section of the tire-clamping ring; and, Fig. 6 is asectional perspective view of the margin of the rim, the clampingringand a modified form of locking ring.

Corresponding and like parts are referred to in the followingdescription and indicated in all the views of the drawings by the samereference characters.

Referring to these'figures, 2 designates a vehicle wheel, the body of.which has any suitable construction. 3 designates the rim therefor. Thisrim, as shown, comprises a cylindrical portion forming the rim proper,which on one edge is upwardly and inwardly turned or flanged, as at 4.The other margin of the rim is inwardly turned and then out wardly bentso thata U-shaped flange 5 is formed upon' this margin of the rim, whichflange extends inwardly entirely inside of the inner face of the rimproper. Theoutwardly turned margin 6 of the flange 5,

I it will be seen, does not project beyond the side of the flangedmargin 9 are placed the strengthening rings 10, these rings being formedintegral with or attached to the clamping member. The clamping member ismade of relatively thin 'metal, this metal being preferablycircumferentially ribbed or corrugated, so as to strengthen it. It willbe seen that the clamping member is complementary to the returned margin4 and that the'clencher tire is adapted to be clamped between thisinwardly turned margin 4 and the clamping member 8. In order to hold theclamping member in place against the outward thrust of the expandedpneumatic tire, we provide the locking member 12. This member ispreferably U-shaped in cross section, as shown in Fig. 3, as this form,while using a minimum of material, gives a maximum of strength.Furthermore, the U-shaped form of the member permits it to be placedover the edge of the outwardly turned margin 6 of the U-shaped flange 5.This member, wa in position, locks the clamping ring -8 in place andprevents it i from slidinglaterally. Furthermore, it fills the spacebetween the outwardly turned margin 6 and the body of the channel 5 sothat the channel cannot be indented or crushed in. When the lockingmember 12 is in place, there will be a slight depression left between itand the rim 3. It will be seen that the flange 9 of the clamping ring 8extends outward between the strengthening rings 10 and that this flangeis therefore adapted to enter the space left between the locking ring 12and the body of the ring, and that thus the clamping ring 8, when forcedto its outermost position, snaps into place and is held from any inwardor outward movement.

Inthe practical use of our invention, the locking ring and the clampingring are both removed entirely from the rim. The

clencher tire is then put on, one flange of the tire being insertedbeneath the overturned margin .4. The clamping ring 8 is then placed onthe rim, its body portion extendflange 13 of the clencher tile 14 andthen the locking ring 12 is sprung in place, straddling the outwardlyturned portion or edge 6 of the rim. The interior rubber tire 15 is theninflated, which forces the clencher ring against the clamping ring 8 andforces said clamping ring laterally until stopped by contact with thering 12. In this position it will be seen that the outer strength eningring 10 extends over the locking ring 12 and holds it in position. Bythe reverse operation, the pneumatic outer tire may be easily removedfrom the rim.

While we prefer touse a locking ring which is U-shaped in cross section,as previously described, we do not wish to limit ourselves to this, aswe may use the locking ring or band 12 shown in Fig. 6. This band isangular in cross section and is designed to be used 1n precisely thesame manner as the U-shaped ring previously described.

It will be seen that by the construction has been inflated, each partprotecting ad-.

jacent parts and locking them to the tire, the construction being soformed that the rim is reinforced at that portion of its circumferencewhere it is most likely to come in contact with stones or obstructionsand become indented or deformed. Further, the peculiar form of ringpermits it to be inserted in a relatively deep groove from which itcannot'be shifted except by eX- panding the ring and manually removingit, the outer-margin of the ring which projects out of the groove orchannel, permit-. iting the easy removal of the ring, which .Would notbe the case were the ring cylindri- Ecal in section, in which case itcould' not be easily removed from a deep channel. ing over the outwardlyextending base Having thus described is claimed as new is A vehicle rimlnturned at one edge and the invention, what .with a circumferentialoutwardly opening channel at the other edge, a tire havlng a c'lencherflange at oneside engagin beneath the intur'ned edge of the rim antanother flange at the opposite side provided with an annular recess, aclamping r'ingbearing over the recessed flange and provided with1nwardly and outwardly directed ribs, the inwardly directed rib bearingin the recess of the tire flange and an annular locking mem ber bearingwithin the rim channel and likewise bearing beneaththe outer rib of theclamping ring. a

In testimony whereof we affix our signa- FRANK M. HILTON.

L. s. JOHNS. HILTON. 1 WILLIAM W. HILTON. Witnesses:

N. A. SPENCY, OSBORN ERGATO.

tures in presence of two witnesses.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

